The Appalachian Mountains!!!

Dear Hannah

Howdy😁! I guess I have a lot of catching up to do now🤪. Well, it was I believe last Friday when I got to the Shenandoah NP area. The first full day there I took the skyline hwy from end to end and back, stopping at so many little pullouts and parking lots with amazing views. Many of them had trails leading to one place or another so I ended up doing lots of little hike. I actually ran out of time on the return trip and got back to camp after dark. Great hikes! The drive would be great on a motorcycle, or as a passenger in the car, for me it was a lot of windshield time on curvy mountain roads.

Day two I spent in the Mathews arm area hiking sort of a tour de waterfall. I had meant to take more pics but as usual, photography wasn’t in the front of my mind.

Day three found me on an ice run into town, so I got my laundry done. It’s all about birds and rocks. Sadly the cell service was so poor there I couldn’t even get on google🤪. I spent the rest of the day walking around the area I was camped in. It’s an old iron smelting area and a lot of the buildings are still standing and restored. Pretty cool!

Day 4 was a driving day. I was going to take the 600ish mile scenic route but honestly, pulling a trailer of any size through windy twisty mountain roads just isn’t that fun. I took the interstate. I found a little campground and settled in. My plan was to spend more time in the area then head south to Florida but Mother Nature has other plans for me. I got to spend one day in the park snooping around. The rains moved in sometime that night so I flipped a coin and headed west. I’ll have to plan another trip along the gulf coast sometime when the weather is more predictable.

So where to next? Well, big bend NP in Texas is on my list. So off I go. As we speak I’m sitting in a hotel in Texarkana TX after 12 hours of driving. I really like the looks of the are between Little Rock AR and here. I may spend the day looking around tomorrow, I may push on. I guess the sunrise will tell😁👍.